Reverse World ~ Downsideup City

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate hit the ground and rolled to a stop after Joule's orb of blacklight abruptly released its pull on the team, panting heavily as she looked to the ground. While she had seen her share of loss from Pokémon she'd befriended getting captured in jobs gone bad, she hadn't expected a good half of the team's front lines to suddenly get vaporized, much less her own roommate that she'd shared drinks with just a couple days prior.

The Sneasel blanked out for a moment, when she heard a younger voice hitch and start to cry, the Dark-Type's attention turning towards Pleo as he bewailed the loss of his partner. Kate darted over, going up and pawing sharply at his wing.

"Pleo? Pleo? Listen to me," she pleaded. "I know this isn't easy, but you need to keep things together here!"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa was dead.

The feelings inside Luz were a wound she couldn't just shake off. But wounded heroes kept fighting until all were safe. They didn't show fear. They didn't quit. They didn't cry.

Neither would she. Not until this was done.

Maybe you’re better dead after all,

"Astrid, darlin'," said Luz—her voice surely betraying no pain, no fear, no grief—"You hit him as hard as you can, but sweetheart, don't lose yourself. Brisa believed in Joule too."

She reached out to touch the ninetales her host had loved, and stopped, distracted by one of the earliest voices she remembered.

my sis is in a bit of a rut

There was no problem being pestered about this just after her host had died, of course. She was Luz. She didn't need a moment to compose herself. It was a good thing, because if she were anyone else, she'd had torn Lexx's head clean off his body! But she was fine, of course, and she wouldn't do that, because she was a hero. She didn't need anything.

Luz rushed straight past Lexx to Starr's side, and gripped her shoulders to look her in the eye.

"Didn't y'hear Brisa?" she said, voice crackling with something she didn't recognise. "Stay in control. Keep strivin'. You're the best of us, and we need you. She knew you could take this fella out—get a grip and do it! You have it in you, Starr. She believed that about you."

She turned her head towards the angry star above them. She drew on her electrical aura, and extended something of her supernatural speed to the torracat her host had also loved.

"Lemme give you a boost, partner."

 

[Virgil134]

Tears welled up in Pleo's eyes as he continued to stare at the Blacklight orb that had just vaporized his friend. Even before he had taken on his current form he'd always been able to feel Cabot's presence from inside his Ultra Stone, but now he felt... nothing. Emptiness.

His voice hitched. The Pleo in Cabot's world was a Protector, but he failed to live up to that in every way. He didn't have the same powers, nor was he able to save his friend...

The Lugia got jolted back to attention when he felt Kate pawing at his wing, prompting him to look over as tears streamed down his face.

"B-But Cabot!" Pleo sobbed. "He- He's gone! He's really gone!"

 

[Fusion]

The wax arms that Puddle clutched to its chest felt bitterly cold, lifeless. She was gone. Vix was gone. Puddle fell to its knees, gritting its teeth and fighting back tears. The shade's ultra stone, its heart, stung as emotions started to swell inside of it. Above all the sorrow, all the pain, all the regret, two emotions screamed loudly inside Puddle's mind.

Rage. Rage and heartache.

Both were feelings Puddle could have sworn it had ever experienced before, and yet both felt painfully familiar. It didn't know or understand why or how, but Puddle knew it despised them both.

"D-Dammit..." Puddle hissed, shaking slightly. "Dammit! God fucking dammit!!!" It slammed its fists on the ground, splattering its arms and the wax it held on the stone beneath it.

"Was she not allowed to catch a fucking BREAK?! Just one bad fucking thing after another! She didn't even do anything wrong this time!" Puddle shouted, throwing its arms out to the side. "Fucking why can't she win?! Why can't she go through a fight trying her fucking best without some BULLSHIT like this?!"

It glared at Joule, snarling and boiling with rage. "I don't give a shit if you're supposed to be some hero, I'm gonna make sure you hurt you son of a bitch!"

 

[Ambyssin]

... or the team could just completely ignore him. Guess that was a sign that things were as good as they were going to get.

They all had their connections. Bahamut had nothing. Nothing but a chance to make sure Maple and Cibus didn’t share the same fates as him and Etherium.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"And he wouldn't want you just standing around like this if he were still here!"

Kate looked up at Pleo and pawed at him to try and calm him, trying her hardest to settle down and rekindle his fighting spirit.

"Look, Cabot went out trying to give you a helping claw! To give you a chance to dig your heels in and fight back!" she insisted "So don't let that go to waste and stand here waiting to die! Use that some of that power he made you with to help us out here!"

 

[Namohysip]

Cal was shaking. Her new arms were back again, her longer body, her representation of Owen's form in the shape of a sorry mimicry. She heard Bahamut shouting at the others in particular, making sure that his voice was heard, the one who'd probably seen more sorrow than what had happened here a thousand times over. But he was right. They could grieve later, right? Owen...

She couldn't feel his presence anymore. Owen was gone... She'd never felt this kind of emptiness in her chest before, in her very core.

" . . . So use your fucking words! Or are you going to stand there and wait for the rest of them to get swallowed into the abyss, hmm? Speak now or Cibus will be forever silent... just like your old planet!"

"I've been trying!" Maple shouted back, narrowly dodging another comet that flew through the skies. "He won't listen! He can't hear me at all! I've gone up to him, I've--"

"Try again," Arceus said calmly. "Bahamut is correct. You are the only one who can calm Joule... and now, he is weaker."

"But if I try now, you'll--"

"Die. I expected myself to die to the first attack." Arceus looked back at Maple. "Remember?"

She winced, then glanced at Bahamut again.

"Remember the plan," Arceus said. "My death was part of it, should this attack be too overwhelming."

"Your plans are--"

"Catch you on the flip side, Maple." Arceus floated higher. "If all goes well, I'll see you all real soon."

Maple hissed. "Bahamut," she said. "I need your help. After their next volley, go as close as you can to Joule and toss me. You're the sturdiest of Team Spectrum. I'll try to guard you. My warps don't work right now, so I need someone to help me there."

"I'll help."

Maple looked back, blinking. It was Shield, covered in burns. "I still have some fight in me."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut hefted up his prism arms to make his back more accessible. "Very well."

 

[Negrek]

Nate was already back in the fray, absorbed in launching hydro pumps at the dragon overhead. It was Rocky who noticed Arceus rising up again. For a second he simply looked on, confused, but then he took off in the legend's direction, yelling, "Wait! Stop!"

"What the--?" Nate broke off his attack to give chase. "What the fuck? Where the fuck are you going? Get back here!"

It was hard for Rocky to maneuver with meteors still showering the area, the chaos of battle slowing him down enough for Nate to remain in earshot. "It's Arceus! He's going to make the attack hit him again!"

"Huh?" Nate tried to see through the thick of the battle. Why did he have to be so fucking short, goddamn. "There ain't shit you can do about that! We need your glowy thing! Get back here!"

But the infernape was gone, charging off towards Arceus, still yelling for him to stop.

"For fuck's sake," Nate said, coming to a panting halt.

 

[Namohysip]

Echoes from outer worlds continued... The powerful aura was still there.

D:<

Offensive power was increased for the whole team!

From far, far away comes a voice so soft you can barely hear it.

Friends... I'll be looking for you, every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we'll cling together so tight that nothing and no one'll ever tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you...We'll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pin trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams...And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won't just be able to take one, they'll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we'll be joined so tight... We'll meet again.

It sounds almost like a quote from something else and you don't question it.

~OSJ

Threshold gains against the enemy were increased!

Maple and Shield climbed onto Bahamut as they volleys finished. Even as shadowy instructions were given to the rest of the team, Maple readied herself, and Shield put up extra barriers for what little he could do under Joule's presence.

"Joule..." Maple hissed. "Just a little more, everyone..."

Saltriv's Shadow Panic dealt 42 damage to Joule!
Starr's Rainbow Pledge dealt 4358 damage to Joule!
Starr's Shining Renegade dealt 1310 damage to Joule!
Starr's Leech Life 1748 damage to Joule!
Starr's Flare Blitz dealt 4361 damage to Joule!
Starr's Power Trip dealt 8643 damage to Joule!
Astrid's Triple Stored Power dealt 16,333 damage to Joule! Joule endured the hit!

"This is his weakest," Maple shouted. "Faster! I'll get ready to jump!"

"But what if Joule attacks you?!" Shield called.

"This is part of the deal," Maple replied simply. "If Joule attacks me, then all was lost anyway. Eliminate him if this fails."

In the distance, Arceus flew and made his move, still weak from the first attack that had hit him. And, for some reason, he didn't look like he was at all near his peak strength, even before the fight. But Maple knew why. This was all part of his 'plan...'

Joule used Blacklight That Burns the Sky on--

Arceus used Genesis Sacrifice!

Joule's eyes glowed slightly, and as Arceus tried to fly away and direct the blast toward him, a portal appeared just behind Arceus. Joule compressed his wings, and the great Blacklight shrank down, too. But where was Joule--

"Rocky?!" Pop looked back, halting his flight to look between him, the Blacklight attack, and then back to Rocky. He hissed and used what power he had to blast Rocky away. "This is unsafe!" he shouted, but then caught a glimmer of light behind him. A portal... to where?

That looked like Cibus...

Realizing what had happened, Arceus reeled away from the portal and slammed directly into the Blacklight.

If Arceus had fallen into that portal--if the team hadn't distracted him--he would have gone into the normal plane. Where that Blacklight would have been so much worse...

Joule had planned that.

Blacklight That Burns the Sky dealt a CRITICAL 18,807 damage to Arceus, KO!

The burned, battered form of the Creator fell far and onto one of the scattered islands of the Reverse World. He landed hard, but not nearly as hard as expected--Karat and a few Psychics had slowed his descent. Despite this, he was unmoving, but there was a faint glimmer in the wheel around his body.

 

[Ambyssin]

Explosions. Screams. Meteors. It all made it incredibly hard for Bahamut to focus. Especially since Esper was chittering in the back of his head despite being stuffed into his bag.

Strafe left. No, right. Right! Meteors whizzed by him. A massive explosion in the distance. Arceus? If only he had escaped that fence.

Closer. The brilliant light was drawing closer. Bahamut clamped his arms over Shield and Maple to aileron roll past three meteors. A spiderweb crack spread over his forehead, over his precious brain prism.

"How much... further?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Just a little more," Maple said, readying with a crouch. "Now!"

She leapt off of Bahamut and called back, "Get away with Shield!" as she flew on her own, taking grazing shots from the countless meteors that bombardon the land. Giratina's realm, at least in this segment, was in ruins.

"Joule!" Maple roared.

Joule became immune to Defense Down, Resistance Down, and Flinching!
Joule's defenses reinforced themselves... He became doubly resistant to Status ailments and debuffs!
Getting staggered made Joule jittery. He'll flashbang anybody who gets too close to him--all actions against Joule cost double!

"Joule, listen to me!" Maple begged. Armor was chipping away on Joule's unstable body Shadows coursed through his body. "Joule... can't you recognize me? Blade?"

Joule stared at her, black-and-white eyes flickering like static.

Joule didn't look like he was regenerating... But he also looked like he was still looking for a way to fight. He turned his head to Team Spectrum, then Maple again, then down at Arceus, and then Maple again...

The comets slowed down. Twitching, two of Joule's wings rose. Shadows started rippling across his body; a core of light appeared in the middle...

Joule is getting stronger, and he seems to be doing something...
Joule stopped charging Blacklight That Burns the Sky.
Joule isn't trying to attack...?
Arceus is far below.

What does the team do?

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Didn't y'hear Brisa?" she said, voice crackling with something she didn't recognise. "Stay in control. Keep strivin'. You're the best of us, and we need you. She knew you could take this fella out—get a grip and do it! You have it in you, Starr. She believed that about you."

The words made her pause. For a single, agonizing moment that lasted forever, Starr felt like her head was splitting apart. Brisa believed in her. Brisa. Brisa was--

And look where that belief got her.

The sky had exploded again. Bits of starfire rained down all around them. Starr stood her ground, unleashing an endless barrage of fiery blasts at Joule even as impacts crashed down right next to her and her vision went white. She felt a flash of searing pain, a sudden, sharp disconnect, and then a surge of power filling every inch of her body.

They're gone.

They'll be fine.

They're gone.

Quit worrying.

I can't do this without them.

You're strong enough without them. You don't NEED their approval.

......

..........

..................

.........................................

Starr used Power Trip!

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut kept a tight grip on Shield, even as Joule paused and his core became exposed. He took a couple of cautious steps back.

The blacklight streaming around Joule's body. A palpable sense of uncertainty to their foe's movements.

If blacklight is a corruptive force... wouldn't the core be the key to purifying him?

Think. Think think think think. Radiance was from Maple.

Radiance was from Maple... but also from Joule. From a mix of the two? Gah! It had been so long since the subject had come up.

"Light," Bahamut whispered. "Purify the shadows with light? With radiance?" Was he even making sense anymore?

Wait, he still had a passenger.

"Shield?" Bahamut whispered. "Is there somewhere... any platform close enough for me to get you to safely?"

 

[windskull]

Tempest's tails drooped, dragging the ground as he stared up at the necrozma. Nip was gone, and he couldn't do anything about it. He hadn't even tried.

"Be silent! Shove your grief-laded thoughts down your throats!" he roared. "We had a plan. We stick to that plan, regardless the circumstances. If they were still here, do you think they would accept anything less than freeing Joule? Of course not!" He paused. "If you want to have any shot at a miracle, then he needs to be purified, not killed."

Bahamut's words shook him out of his brief stupor. No. He was right. They had to remain strong. There would be time for mourning later. He crouched, preparing to strike, or else to take the brunt of the coming attack. But the Blacklight That Burns the Sky never came.

...

Below them was Arceus. Wounded. Perhaps mortally. Above was Joule. Injured. Still standing. But no longer attacking. Maple was there too. Could it be a trap?

He turned to Saltriv. Bahamut was too far away, but perhaps Saltriv could do something. "Saltriv!" he called out to the bayleaf. "You know heal pulse. We need to get to Arceus. Try to help him. I don't have much healing power, but I'll do what I can to help." But he was so far away, and neither of them could fly...

He turned to a familiar black and red bird. "Yveltal! Can you take us down to Arceus? Quickly." There were others that might be able to help. He wracked his brain, trying to think of who might have been most familiar with Arceus, and cursed himself for not getting to know the rest of the team very well.

The mudkip had been involved in Arceus' plan though, hadn't he? "Nate, right? Is there anything you can do to help us?" Then he added, louder, "Or if anyone else that might be able to help. Hurry!"

Briefly he glanced back up towards Joule. "Be prepared to strike or defend yourselves, in case this is a trap!" he warned the others. "Or else one of the other troublemakers show up."

 

[Fusion]

Puddle gritted its teeth, still glaring at the corrupted Joule. They were beating him to a pulp, but it didn't feel like enough. He took their friends away, that asshole. Was Puddle the only one that still remembered that? Was it the only one that still felt that?!

"We're so close, we just have to hit him harder!" Puddle shouted, yet it felt like no one would have listened. And he was one of the only familiars with next to none fighting ability. Just useless, wimpy, stretchy noddle arms. "Just a little more! He can't beat us!"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz looked between Starr and Astrid in desperation. Could she even keep either of them from going on an all-out onslaught, let alone both? She balled her paws into fists and let oit a directionless yowl of distress.

"Goddammit," she swore, surprising herself again, "come to yer senses, won't ya? We gotta do this right! We gotta be better than this–!"

She'd said what she could to Starr, who had heard her and somehow then evolved and readied a massive attack with intent. Astrid looked like she was barely thinking. Maybe Luz would have better luck with her??

She ran to the ninetales and took hold of her, desperate.

"Astrid, please. You promised her..."

 

[Navar]

Too tired. Too exhausted. Barely able to stand up, see, or do much. Somehow, things got worse than before, with Arceus taking a massive hit. If even God was weakened, what could a lowly Marshtomp like him do?

"Well... I tried. I gave my best. And I still failed..."

He fell down again, face on the floor. The voice inside his head, his familiar, didn't say anything anymore. Maybe it finally shut up. Well, then Shiron finally had a moment of peace.

But the rest of the team still continued. For reasons unknown to him. Maybe grief, rage or whatever feelings normal people would have during this. And there he was, accepting the deaths and defeat. Shiron was nothing like them. Not even in the darkest hour.

"Why am I like this? So... useless. Worthless. You're garbage, you know that?!" he told no one in particular, just angry at himself.

"I... know that," Shiron turned around, now facing the sky with a blank expression. He was so tired. His hands hurt, his head ached, and his breath was raspy.

There wasn't any point. It's not like the others could come back. They were gone.

"Garbage. Scum. Useless. Worthless. Piece of shit. No wonder you have no friends... who would want to be friends with such a poor excuse for a living being?! Nobody is counting on you, because you... don't... matter."

He continued yelling at himself, as much as he could. Until his attention diverged somewhere else. It seemed like some of the surviving members of the team wanted to kill Joule. In any normal situation, Shiron would be completely against that. But with so many deaths... he was unsure. Even with an aching heart and tears, he didn't want to do it, take someone's life. So maybe it was best to leave that to the ones who actually had the guts to do so.

"I just hope... somehow, someway... we can make it through this. Everyone."

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia stared at Dave as the Blacklight sphere pulled him in, her scythes automatically rising. Indirectly, she could feel the force of the magnetism between his body and the growing attack, many times more than the force someone of her size and power level could exert in the other direction. If she came closer she'd just be pulled in too.

He yelled at her to stay down, but he didn't need to. It would be stupid to try.

Mia turned to Joule and bared her teeth in a snarl. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dave receding into a black speck before disintegrating. The psychic link that they'd mostly ignored fizzed out entirely, leaving an empty silence in her brain.

She always liked a fight. But right now she powerfully wanted to slit Joule's throat, and sink her teeth into his flesh, and taste his blood if he had any. There was no point to it, no reason she ought to, other than that she wanted it. Dave would probably tell her not to, but he wasn't here anymore, and normally he'd talk about how people would put her in jail but she didn't think anyone would actually jail her for killing Joule. Even Maple had been ready to kill Joule.

And so, she zoomed in to attack.

--

By the time Joule was down, flickering, she didn't hesitate.

 

[Negrek]

The giant ball of death came roaring forward, and once again Arceus intervened. Or started to. It looked like he was distracted by--oh, fuck. Nate took off running again. If we all die because that asshole can't let go of his obsession with some blinged-out llama I swear to fucking God--

There was no way he was reaching Rocky before the attack reached Arceus, of course, but Nate rushed as fast as he could anyhow. He could feel where Rocky was, like the one fucking time the damn psychic link was useful, and weaved his way through the fight, dodging meteors as well as attacks from his own team. Overhead... some kind of portal? And the attack and Arceus just flew straight into it, holy fuck. Nate growled as Arceus toppled out of the sky. After all that fucking work trying to keep that guy alive. And he'd almost thought they'd managed it for a second, too.

There Rocky was, or his core at least. It lay off by itself in a crater in the Reverse World's cracked surface, smoking lightly. "Jesus," Nate said, coming up beside it. "Guess he smacked you pretty hard, huh?"

For one second he actually considered leaving the damn thing there. Obviously Rocky wouldn't be making trouble anytime soon, so nothing for him to do here.

Nate considered the ultra stone for a few moments. Yeah, sure. He scooped the ultra stone up and deposited it in the bag that had landed next to it, then proceeded to drag the lot back towards the battle. The fight was mostly over. Hopefully. Life sure did like to throw out some fucking curveballs. Nate didn't even know if Rocky'd be able to use his weird interdimensional power anymore, but at least they'd have a chance at it if anything came up last-minute.

Joule hung overhead, motionless. Maple was up there with him, finally. It looked like she might have gotten through to the guy, finally, or at least he didn't seem too keen on attacking anymore.

A call came down from overhead.

Nate, right? Is there anything you can do to help us?

Nate squinted up. On one of the platforms overhead, that was... a familiar, a ninetales. Nate didn't think he knew the guy, but Rocky would've been able to identify him immediately, no doubt.

So they wanted to go help Arceus, was that it? Nate was tempted to tell the guy to just fuck off, but... they needed Arceus around. Nate had some questions he wanted answered. And besides, he could only imagine the whining if Rocky ever found out he'd had the opportunity to help Arceus and had fucked off to deal with Joule instead.

"Yeah," he sighed, reaching into his bag. "Catch!" He tossed one of the pokéballs up to the familiar. "If he's still alive, you can use this on him. It'll keep him stable until you can get him to the infirmary and make it easier to bring him back with us. I got a feeling we're gonna be in a pretty big hurry to get out of here."

Back to the battle, then. Was Maple having any luck up there? Nate squinted once again into Joule's glow. Still no attack from him, Maple was still up there... and, wait, were those familiars? Going in for the attack? What the fuck were they doing?

Nate dropped his gaze back to the rest of the team on the ground. What the fuck were they doing? Wasn't anybody going to stop those guys?

On the contrary, it looked like half the team was gearing up to attack Joule themselves. Nate cursed and let the strap of his bag fall, heading into a full-tilt run again. "Hey, hey, hey! Knock it off! Don't fucking attack, let Maple do her thing!" He was never going to reach them in time, fuck. One of the vulpix was taking off into the air, and people were already flying around up there...

But there was... an incineroar. Starr. More with the fucking evolution, lovely. And she had some kind of dark attack all charged up, looked like she was about to let loose on the fucking dragon they were supposed to be saving. Maybe he could reach her, at least.

Nate threw himself forward, putting himself between Starr and Joule. "What the fuck are you doing? Cut that shit out! Do you want Joule to freak out and turn Maple into fucking atoms?"

Hopefully that'd snap her out of it. If it didn't look like she was going to stop, Nate would see how she liked a hydro pump.